A Crown For The Golden Prince
by BoleynofAragon21
Summary: What if Katherine had not miscarried her twin girls? What if the new year Prince had lived? How different England would be? Hell of a lot I say!


**What would have happened if Queen Katherine had not miscarried her first twin girls, if her son would live? A wholew new mess I tell ya!**

**Hello guys so this is my new plot bunny, what if Katherine had not miscarried and lost her first babies? r/r i am not happy with simple sight-seeing.**

**~Nat Sarah~**

**~o~o~o**

Katherine squealed with delight. Her eyes tearful and joyful. She had done it! She had done it at last! Just when her maids thought she was about to give up, the mighty Infanta gave a powerful, howling, terrifying cry -that brough forth their longed-for Prince. Their new King, someday. Pray God too long -their King was still handsome and boastful of their Queen, there was too much to behold from their mighty monarch. "The handsomest Prince in Christendom" the Venetian Ambassador wrote. Now he was the handsomest and the luckiest indeed for now he had a son to boast of and be happy and merry with the Queen, God Bless her! For the rest of their lives!

"At last" The Queen echoed her ladies' thoughts. At last a Prince to keep all of England her safe. Her kingdom, no -she corrected herself. Their kingdom, for it was not it only his kingdom alone he would rule over but their Kingdom. Once Henry dies, she would become co-Regent to her son for no son of hers would rule alone. Men were weak and powerless creatures, she learned from her father and his many affairs. Too dependant on women and their feminine wiles, their ambition only extended so far.

Tis was the woman -her mother taught her- who ruled the Kingdom. Men were naught but fanciful creatures hiding behind a woman's skirt -be that mother or wife.

She would be THE queen, her son's undisputed queen and just as Margaret Beaufort had clung jealously to her precious Henry, she would clung jealously to her son, and envy all women who might stir him away.

"No more my son, you will have me to suckle and to hold for now and always" She vowed as her maids departed, the ones left, Maria the new Countess of Willoughby nee Salinas and Lady Margaret Pole -who aspired an Earldom for her husband and thanks to the Spanish Princess she might now get it, stepped aside to make way for the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury to bless their new son.

Circumstances were dire, the country was under heavy unrest and Henry wanted his son invested with the full honors of the Dukedom of Cornwall, the Earldom of Chester and Richmond -that his father once held- and more important, the Princedom of Wales.

"If anything should happen to me." Katherine feigned a terrified gasp, but the thought did scare her. If anything happened to Henry now, she would be powerless to defend her son's kingdom. There were too many enemies, Dr. de Puebla that faithful soul she once distrusted told her she could trust no one. -Not even -he said- your own shadows. And by that he meant his ladies in waiting that come all the way from Spain with her, whom she never kept anything from. And rightly so. These women had known hardship with her, they had known poverty, despair, spiritual and physicial and when only her chaplain was their only consolation, they had also known betrayal.

They were one body alone, she would never dream of finding a traitor among them, they were loyal as all Spaniards were to their masters and very faithful. It was said that among the pious, the most loyal were found. Nothing farther from the truth could be said here.

Katherine shifted her gaze to the Lady Pole. Here was a woman who shared her hadships but had not tasted a single drop of hardship like her Spanish ladies. For her son's sake, she would keep an eye on her. She had made a mistake in trusting her English ladies not too long ago when the Duke of Buckingham's sister had caught her husband's eyes. "Never more" she vowed since then. Never more -she would keep her eyes off her husband. He was hers and hers alone. He could have his share of whores, he was a man after all and it was common for married men to have mistresses but she would not let another woman stand in the way of her happiness.

She kissed her son's forehead as Henry uttered these words.

"We will secure the North of Engalnd, France threatens with another skirmish -"

"Like when your father was King and Charles also threatened to invade Italy. Thank the heavens that God smiles upon our holy father to stop him at the Vatican's gates before he succeeded in his unholiest plot with his unholiest alliance with that she-wolf!" Of course she meant the Sforza woman who zealously defended her dominions as her womanhood from the lustful Cesare Borgia.

His wife was right and for the sake of their newborn child, and their success, he no longer minded her interruptions. "Very true Your Majesty, Her Majesty speaks from the heart." His Archbishop said, the head of the Church in England took one good look at their newborn Prince.

This so called "miracle" of England that was in his hands did not make a single sound, he did not even fuzz in the Archbishop's hand but when he gave him to his father he began to squirm violently. Katherine released her covers from covering her sweaty chest. The birth of the Prince had made Henry so anxious after learning the Northern invasion on parts of the Scots aided by the French, that he had not given her a time for proper dress.

"Here let me" She said, Henry giving her their son. He instantly calmed.

The Archbishop cleared his throat and tapped his foot on the ground. These were such pressing matters. "Oh right!" Henry forced his eyes back to the Archbishop. "What are we going to do about this? I cannot fight two armeis at once, my father tried and he exhausted half the population with his taxes."

Henry sighed passing a hand through his sweaty brow and bright auburn hair. "I will not let foreigners ruin my father's kingdom!"

"Your Kingdom" Katherine melodic chasting voice reminded him.

"Our Kingdom, I will not let them take it." He said shaking his head vigorously. "My lord Archbishop prepare our best men for a joust, today we celebrate my son's birth and soon as you are done with the christening, I want him the proper ceremony for investment."

The Archbishop stuttered. This was too much, too soon. There was so much to be done, he gazed at the Queen. Surely, he said to the Queen reminded her of her importance in her husband's kingdom, you can convince the King this is madness! Surely you understand, his eyes pleaded, heavy with lack of sleep.

He was amazed at the Queen's longevity through this whole ordeal, her face showed no signs of stress and the ordeal she'd just come out of. Only five and twenty but she seemed younger and more beautiful, her boosom more evident with every child she took to suck.

After Joan and Isabella were born she took to her heart her oath, that if God would deliver her safely of this birth she would never doubt him again and as proof, she started to take her children to suck.

It was a good sign of a fatihful mother -but she was a Queen first and such spectacle should be reserved in private and to nursemaids. That is what they were there for. -Henry tried explaining to her but the Queen would not come to a compromise, she was much too pig-headed and stubborn, arrogant like her mother yet today she proved to be more her father's daughter.

"You will have to wait a month after you defeated the Scots my love, and the French." She added hastily sharing his passion for hatred of the French, she no doubt -thought the Archbishop- inherited from her father. "If you invest him now you will only give in to their demands, they think you are weak and your days as King are over. If you invest our son with the Princedom of Wales they will attack right away and he will be left peniless without a father, mother and a kingdom to rule."

"You think I am careless too Katherine?"

Now Katherine knew she had to thread carefully. She shook her head so soft and gentle that it barely seemed like it moved. "No my love" she said equally gentle. "But our enemies are, their hearts are so black and they fill their people's heads with lies. They would have you do this so they can tell the people you are rash when you are not, and thoughtless where you have been mostly thoughtful."

Soothed by Katherine's voice, he sighed and -as if in a trance- his eyes followed his son's every movements and came to the conclusion Katherine was right. He owed his father and his son this much, he would not let this country to waste just because of his enemies.

"For now then I will heed your advice, but he will be invested." He declared.

And it would be a grand ceremony with all his godparents and the court present.

Katherine dismissed him with a kiss after he said his goodbyes and the Archbishop blessed the little Prince, Hal Tudor once more.

Alone Katherine waited for her son to sleep. She did not sleep, she watched her son toss and turned in his craddle and she comfort him with a lullaby she remembered her sisters would sing to one another when they were in the battlefields near Granada and it was uncertain what their fate would be.

* * *

Years passed, the Prince was a fine man. Though he was the joy of their lives and his presence alone had put to rest doubts from Henry's nobles when he was born that the King was weak and would soon be left heirless, his parents could not explain why after such a success his mother could not bare another healthy child?

The last healthy child she bore was Princess Mary but even then, there had been complications that nearly took the Queen's life and were not seen since she bore Princess Isabella and Princess Joan. The physicians could not explain it either but one thing Henry was sure after her last miscarriage was Katherine could not have children.

Her courses had stopped and the King no longer sought her bed. This would have hurt Katherine if it were not for the simple fact that she did not seek her husband's bed either. She was much contect looking after their children, being a mother to Mary like she had not been to Isabella and Joan, and looking after Hal's affairs in Wales in Ludlow Castle.

Mary held a special place in her heart that Hal did not, she was her miracle baby but she never told Hal this for he would grow jealous and she could not have sibling rivalry in her family. Because she was the youngest though, it seemed less likely she was going to make good marriage prospects like her elder sisters -who one of them was already promised to the Emperor and the other to the King of Portugal.

"Mother? I did not expect to see you here? What brings you here?" Mary asked bowing lowly before her mother.

Katherine gave her youngest Princess a sweet smile, it seemed like Mary to always be so formal, so sweet unlike her other childre who bore more resemblance to their father. Mary was all hers.

"The King allowed me to spend time with you and Hal for the Yule festivities."

Her eyebrows knitted. "I thought papa said we would be spending Christmas in Greenwich."

"He did, but your father had some business to attend to." Katherine said and Mary knew that was the end of the argument.

She showed her mother to her chambers and then showed off all the new skills she had acquired over the summer and all the new instruments she could now play. "Lady Salisbury says that I am a prodigy, and Master Vives gives me nothing but praise, he says that I am a credit to my race and that I am going to grow to be a scholar like papa and introduce learning in all my husband's land."

"I am sure you will mi amor but you need to attend your other studies first if you want to make him happy."

"I don't see the need for that, he is bound to love me just how I am."

"Not all husbands are that way Mary, remembered what we've talked about your Aunt Juana."

"I know" Mary said dismissively but Katherine went on.

"My father, your grandfather, shut her away in a tower for her madness and her husband shut her in her rooms for demanding love."

"But mine is going to be different, I will marry a man who loves for who I am not for my titles or my riches." Mary kept saying. Katherine laughed, her daughter was a true idealist but she did not want to end her innocence so she let her speak.

Noticing Hal's abscence, she then asked: "Where is your brother?"

"He is with Master Moore, they are studying Welsh law today."

"I did not know Master Moore was equipped with teaching him Welsh law."

"He isn't but Hal understands him better than the Welsh lawyers who only bent their frustration in Welsh when Hal falls asleep."

Katherine and Mary giggled. Her son definitely had Henry's temper.

"Where are you going?"

Katherine walked to the door, followed by Mary whose eyes were pleading not to leave her.

"To your brother, I will be back, surely you can survive another hour without me?" She said, kissing her forehead and closing the door behind her. Katherine chuckled at her daughter's antic, wild tapping she thought she could still get her attention.

* * *

Hal heard his sister's tapping the upper floor. He released Anne's lips and went across the room and picked up his clothes and tossed her hers.

"What is going on?" She asked confused. They were going to break a mark today, he had proposed and was going to announce his betrothal to her parents and then to his own, but neither had anticipated the Queen's visit.

"My mother is here, she is coming, you need to leave" He said giving her one farewell kiss. She did not let him go and pinned him to a corner in the room. "You said you were going to tell her when she comes." She said. "She is here now, you can tell her. How long before the whole court knows?"

"Anne I would never do anything to compromise your honor but this is my mother we are talking about, I do not want to hurt her-"

"Oh so it is me then." Her eyes showed hurt.

"No, it is not you, i-its ..." He sighed. "I do not know what it is but if I tell my mother now it will break her heart, she has plans to wed me to my cousin and I do not want to spoil her dreams."

"You will have to someday if you want to marry me." She said roughly giving him one rough push and then headed to the door.

"Anne ...Anne! Please come back, sweetheart, I promise I will tell her soon, but it can't be today. Please Anne understand, place yourself in my shoes." He begged desperately going to crutch his arm. Her eyes danced like wildfire, delighted to see him beg like a puppy. She stopped in her tracks and crossed her arms, pretending further injury too see what point she could break him. "My mother is the woman who defeated the damned Scots by crying out loud while my father was away in Calais fighting the French!"

"I well know who she is and it still does not impress me." She said moving away, but Hal dropped to his knees in one last sign of humiliation. Now Anne was pleased.

"Please Anne, just one more chance, give me one more chance to prove myself to you. I promise I will tell her."

"You promise?" He nodded. "Swear by God that you will tell your parents and then, only then, will I believe you."

"I swear by the Queen of Heaven Anne I will tell my mother before she leaves this castle how about that?"

Anne's lips curved up to a satisfactory smile. She helped Hal on his feet and captured his lips. "I accept but you forgot one condition."

"Anything my love, just say the word and it is yours."

"I must be there when you tell her." He stared at her wide-eyed shocked. Who did this woman think she was? Nobody gave orders to his mother and if she was there in the room his mother would certainly say no but one kiss from her soft lips silenced his thoughts.

"Tonight." He said hotly. "Tonight I will tell her -for you Anne."


End file.
